Embezzlement Mexico

Former Deputy Atty. Gen. Mario Ruiz Massieu says he never counted the money that day in January 1994 when his elder brother Francisco handed him eight or nine suitcases stuffed with cash. Francisco told him that it was about $3 million--a fraction of the family fortune--and Mario says he believed him.

Former Deputy Atty. Gen. Mario Ruiz Massieu says he never counted the money that day in January 1994 when his elder brother Francisco handed him eight or nine suitcases stuffed with cash. Francisco told him that it was about $3 million--a fraction of the family fortune--and Mario says he believed him.

Once the No. 2 official in Mexico's Justice Department and now accused of collusion with drug traffickers, Mario Ruiz Massieu finds himself caught in an unusual limbo between freedom in a new country and potentially indefinite incarceration in his homeland. Since he was arrested at Mexico's behest 11 months ago while changing planes in New Jersey, Ruiz Massieu has won a series of U.S. court judgments finding the criminal evidence insufficient for holding him.

A federal judge Wednesday rejected a last-ditch attempt by the U.S. government to deport a former high-ranking Mexican law enforcement official to his homeland for prosecution, increasing chances that he will go free. Federal authorities, at the behest of the Mexican government, have been struggling for almost a year to send Mario Ruiz Massieu, Mexico's former deputy attorney general, home to face corruption charges. But U.S. District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry in Newark, N.J.

A federal judge Wednesday rejected a last-ditch attempt by the U.S. government to deport a former high-ranking Mexican law enforcement official to his homeland for prosecution, increasing chances that he will go free. Federal authorities, at the behest of the Mexican government, have been struggling for almost a year to send Mario Ruiz Massieu, Mexico's former deputy attorney general, home to face corruption charges. But U.S. District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry in Newark, N.J.

Once the No. 2 official in Mexico's Justice Department and now accused of collusion with drug traffickers, Mario Ruiz Massieu finds himself caught in an unusual limbo between freedom in a new country and potentially indefinite incarceration in his homeland. Since he was arrested at Mexico's behest 11 months ago while changing planes in New Jersey, Ruiz Massieu has won a series of U.S. court judgments finding the criminal evidence insufficient for holding him.